Wednesday 6th November 2019 Phone (02) 6657 2552

Term 4 Week 4 dorp@lism.catholic.edu.au

OUR CORE VALUES

RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY INTEGRITY SERVICE COMPASSION COOPERATION ENTHUSIASM

Dear Parents,

Last week, it was clear that many students were out and about for Halloween. Unfortunately, this translated into a difficult day at school for many of our students on Friday. Students came in to school with lollies which they had gathered the night before. We saw an increase in disruptive behaviours through the day. I encourage parents to support us with the students’ learning by providing nutritious options for student lunches. I also encourage you to read the following article by Michael Grose.

Parent Behaviours even the best parents need to stop

I would especially note the part about expectations. Setting expectations about coming to school and the desired behaviour at school is the role of parents, staff and students working together. I often talk to the students about eating a nutritious breakfast. I relate it to mowing the lawn. Would you try to mow the lawn without petrol in the tank? It just wouldn’t happen. Similarly, would you put sugar in the lawn mower tank? What would happen then? The same thing happens when students are trying to learn but they haven’t had the right type of food that helps them to concentrate.

I know that some parents may disagree with our approach here. However, I encourage you to give your children something sugary, find a task online to do with Mathematics; e.g. a problem-solving website. Watch the children as they try to focus and work the task. Or I am sure you could name times you have witnessed your children behaving poorly. Was it at a party? Do

you think it was because of what they were eating?

At Mt St John’s, the staff care deeply about the learning that takes place each and every day. I thank all who support us in this endeavour.

Regards,

Nathan Trezise, Principal COMING EVENTS:

NOVEMBER

Tues 5th Year 7 Orientation visit to DHS, 12pm-3:15pm

Thurs 7th Kinder Orientation, 9-11:30am

Fri 8th K/1/2 Prayer Assembly, 2:45pm

Fri 15th Year 3/4 Learning Assembly, 2:45pm

Wed 20th Year 7 Orientation visit to DHS – whole day K/1/2 excursion to Cascade

Fri 22nd K/1/2 Responsible Pet Ownership session, 12pm K/1/2 Learning Assembly, 2:45pm

Tues 26th P&F Meeting, 5:15pm

Fri 29th Kinder Orientation & parent information session, 9-11:30am Term 4 school fees due Year 6 Learning Assembly, 2:45pm

SWIMMING ON THURSDAYS: Swimming lessons take place each Thursday during Term 4. Students will need to bring swimmers, towel, rash vest (if desired) goggles and a plastic bag

EVERY Thursday. Swimming is now part of the PDHPE curriculum. As such, if your child is unable to swim, we require a note from parents to explain their absence from these compulsory lessons. Our swimming program is highly effective, paid for by the school and assists all students in learning to swim. Please note, K - 2 students are to be collected from the pool at the end of the day each Thursday as their lesson will finish close to 3pm. K - 2 students catching buses will be supervised at Dorrigo Public School by our staff. The (approximate) timetable for swimming lessons is as follows:

Years 5 & 6 – 12:45-1:30pm Years 3 & 4 – 1:30-2:15pm Kinder, Yr 1 & Yr 2 – 2:15-3:00pm

CANTEEN: Thank you to this week’s canteen volunteers, who are Kelsey Meehan & Joe Willson, and our muffin-baker, Stacey Carter.

We are in need of more volunteers to fill the dates below. Please contact the school ASAP if you’re available to help. Please send your lunch wallets in to school

and we will keep them here.

Term 4 2019 Canteen Roster

Muffin baking (One dozen

LARGE muffins)

Wk 4 8th Nov Kelsey Meehan & Joe Willson

Stacey Carter

Wk 5 15th Nov Volunteers needed

Michelle Newton

Wk 6 22nd Nov Anna Guest & Armana Black

Jade Gibson

Wk 7 29th Nov Alicia Miller & Kirsty Parker

Alicia Miller

Wk 8 6th Dec Lyneeza Young & Natasha Wilson

Alex Fraser

Wk 9 13th Dec Anna Guest & volunteer needed

Cathy Marsden

If you are unable to do your rostered day, please organise to swap with another volunteer.

In case of emergency, please call Alicia Miller on 0488 280683.

SCHOOL FEES: Term 4 school fee accounts are being sent home today. Term 4 fees are payable by Friday 29th November, unless you are paying by regular direct deposit amounts. Several payment methods are available;

Regular direct deposit payments

Lump sum direct deposit

Cash

Cheque Term 4 school fees:

1 student - $265.50 2 students - $464.50 3 or more students - $$597.25 When using Internet banking, please use your child’s surname as a reference.

For internet banking payments, the school’s bank account details are: Bank name: Banancoast Community Credit Union

BSB no. 533-000 Account no. 76986 (if paying from a BCU account, please specify our S10

account)

WEEKLY AWARDS

Awards at last Friday’s assembly went to: Jinky Ware for a fantastic effort in writing persuasive texts this week. Mia Gilbert for being able to write a supporting sentence for your arguments on “Why it’s important to get a good night’s sleep”. Hamish Molina for stepping out of your comfort zone and doing your best at swimming. Ava Mila for standing up for her friend and doing the right thing to assist during play. Ryleigh Miller for a massive improvement in reading comprehension. Lily Sibanda for accurate drawing and building using 3D shapes and isometric dot and diamond paper Lacey Pitkin for perseverance when drawing with isometric paper to create accurate drawings. Hugh Thomas for his ability to recognise the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages and accurately plotting these on a blank number line. Hugh Thomas (again) for outstanding growth in PAT Mathematics testing this year. Taylor Gilbert for working enthusiastically on mathematical problem in all lessons, particularly when investigating volume and capacity.

KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS FOR 2020 NOW OPEN: If your child will be starting Kindergarten next year, please contact the school on 6657 2552 for an Application for Enrolment form and to book your enrolment interview.

Kindergarten Orientation Sessions Thursday 24th October: 9am - 11.30am

Thursday 7th November: 9am - 11.30am Friday 29th November: 9am (Parent Information

Session)

BUS TRAVEL: To apply for free school bus travel, go to www.transportnsw.info/school-students and complete the online application. PARISH MASSES: Sunday Mass – 10:00am. All are welcome. ABSENCE SMS: If a student is absent from school and we haven’t already been informed of the reason, an automated text message will be sent to a parent or guardian. When you reply to this text it automatically saves to the roll. Or you can notify the school by any of the methods below:

1. By phone 2. By email to dorp@lism.catholic.edu.au 3. By written note.

We must, by law, have a reason provided for all absences. Please don’t ignore the SMS if one is sent to you - respond to the SMS as soon as possible. KIDS’ THEATRE: Kids’ Theatre is held on Thursdays at 3:45pm at the Dorrigo Gazette Theatre. All ages welcome - we are doing Aladdin. Phone Dina for more info on 66572243. GLUE: "God Loves Us Eternally" (formerly GFS) is on each Wednesday during term time at 3-5pm at the Anglican Hall. Afternoon tea, games, fun worship and craft. All primary kids welcome, as are newcomers. For more info, ring Gwenneth on 6657 2135. LEGO FUN: Dorrigo Library will be offering after school Lego fun every Tuesday during school term from 3:30-4:30. It is an hour of supervised building and creating using Lego. MESSY CHURCH: "Remember Me” Remembering sacrifice, remembering loved ones, remembering Jesus. Sunday 10th November, 4pm - 6pm. ALL WELCOME! Free tea provided. Contact Rev Mike Ridge Ph: 6657 2015 Mob: 0427524246 EMAIL:- michaelaridgez@outlook.com www.facebook.com/dorrigoanglicanparish

NOTES FROM P&F MEETING, Tuesday 29th October

Aim to hold Book Swap in Term 1 2020

Dining with Dina was a success, although student supervision was a concern for staff as there was some unsafe behaviour. Would like for it to have been promoted by the students to get more families involved, but timing may have been a factor as it had to be postponed from last term.

Canteen issue with the younger students forgetting to come and get their drinks & frozen food has been resolved – the Kinder class is let out 5 minutes earlier on canteen days.

Netball gala days - Nathan is attending a Sports Coordinators’ meeting, at which he will propose having gala days held closer to Dorrigo (the last one was in Grafton) as hiring a bus to travel there is very expensive. If unsuccessful, maybe we could run our own netball comp with St Mary’s and / or Dorrigo Public instead of travelling so far. Alicia would like to train the netball team for at least 6 weeks prior to the gala day.

Year 6 graduation – some discussion about what format people prefer to have for the graduation. Some suggestions included: Formal catered dinner, where Year 6 students dress up and only invite parents (no siblings) so the focus is on the graduate; Parents providing decorations & catering at the Rec for a nominal charge to Year 6 families (Georgie Kedzlie & Melissa Pitkin have volunteered to do this); A BYO dinner with all family members invited where all family members sit together; A dinner to which all family members are invited but Year 6 students sit at a separate table as guests of honour. Nathan to bring all these suggestions to the Year 6 class and let them make the decision.

Uniform Policy - Nathan showed us the uniform policy on the school’s website and asked if it was communicated clearly. Some small changes were suggested – Nathan to follow up. What consequences do P&F suggest for students out of uniform? More discussion on this at next meeting.

Haircut policy – Nathan would like to develop a haircut policy as staff consider some of the students’ haircuts are inappropriate. Some discussion about what constitutes “inappropriate”. More discussion on this at next meeting.

Communication - Alicia feels she is losing canteen parents through lack of communication. Some families are saying they don’t get a paper copy of the newsletter. Discussed if we should send a paper copy home to every family. We are trying to direct families to look at the school website, as it has dates for the calendar and other important school information. Fiona suggested getting parents to link the school’s Google Calendar with their own – Nathan to investigate.

2020 School Budget - Nathan asked for items to include in the 2020 school budget. Alicia would like a laptop and a small printer for the canteen. Sue suggested we purchase more chairs as it is difficult moving them around for assemblies, liturgies & family events such as Grandparents’ Day. Also more high bench-style desks for students.

We are honoured to be on the ancestral lands of the Gumbaynggirr people. We acknowledge the First Australians as the traditional custodians of the continent, whose cultures are among the oldest living cultures in human history. We pay

respect to the Elders of the community and extend our recognition to their descendants who are present.